New to photography, looking for a camera!

Hello All! I am new to photography and I am looking for a prosumer digital camera. I have narrowed my search to these 3 cameras and I would like to know your opinions and suggestions. So here are the 3 I am currently considering..

I will mostly be shooting actions shots, aswell as some stills and macros.. I have also considered the 5mp 12x optical panasonic lumix for $899... but I think I will be better off with one of the 8mp cameras. Also, how will the 8mp prints fair at 13x19 on a canon i9900?

Thanks a bunch, I am very new at this and i don't want to buy a cruddy camera

Oh absolutely - go D70 or D Rebel or even 10D. You will be much happier with a prosumer camera with your intended use. I have a Powershot Pro1. It's a great camera but the lag will drive you nuts and make action shots really difficult.

Check out some camera's that you are interested in and check out dpreview.com. If you're going to shoot action, shutter/focus lag is going to be a huge issue for you. The lesser shutter and focus lag is an advantage for sure! SLRs usually have more features. Also, I think the sensors in the slr's are better too.

hmm. well since I'm just getting into this I would really just like something that has everything... instead of spending $1300 on the D70 then 2 grand on a 5x optical lense... Since I'm mostling going to be shooting at horse shows I need something with a very good lense, but is in the $1200 mark.. (i still need to get the i9900 printer)..

Well, I shoot horse shows alot. Sounds like the D70 or the Digital Rebel are going to be best for you and still be close to your price range. Just make sure you get the 70-300 lens. It's what I use nearly all the time for shows. The compacts will leave you very frustrated with taking photos of moving objects because of the lag. I really can't stress this enough for your use. I started with an Olympus E20N and upgraded to the 10D specifically because I kept missing shots due to lag. Let me know if I can help you with your new photo efforts.